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Lord of the Ring (Road)
So here we are awaiting a government in which there will no opposition, unless of course you consider Louie Laveist as opposition. Not that it will make much difference really, considering how ineffectual and accommodating the NA/SPA/etc have been in that position these past decades. Neither they nor the media have raised any questions about Theo's planned Great Salt Pond Ring Road and the logic/need of it.
I will say it again, the Salt Pond Ring Road is a huge waste of money and it does nothing, I repeat nothing, to resolve the traffic problems in Philipsburg. Our opposition, nor our media, have asked any questions about what appears to be a very costly project, money that could and should be going towards much more urgent needs of our community. Have there been any traffic studies that recommend this huge costly road? NO, there has not as far as I could find out, the last comprehensive traffic study was done in 1989 I believe, 20 years ago.
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Plans for this Ring Road are currently on view to the public and the time span in which you may submit an objection is running out.
I have cut the image into East and West to show more detail and because I think people really need to know just how big this project is. MNO Vervat and Windward Roads must be rubbing their hands with glee, not only is there lots of road to be built, but also 10 new roundabouts.
Great Salt Pond Ring Road West
Look at the image above and run your eyes around the course of the Ring Road, I've added a couple indicators for places to help orientation. Starting at the top it seems clear there will be quite a bit of filling near the Zoo and Madame Estate (roundabout 1) and along the stretch to the Fresh Pond flood gates area (roundabout 2).
Further down we find another two roundabouts (3 & 4), one where the traffic lights are presently by the Today paper and another on the ring road.
Next we have a spot of interest, as you can see in the close up of the area below, the current road running along the pond between the Today and the old Van Dorp building seems to be gone, or at least is not colored yellow like other roads. (sorry, can't think what it is now, some chinese supermarket, probably 'Golden' something). What will happen along this area?
Two more roundabouts (5 & 6), one on the ring road and one by Vlaun on Longwall Road. Interesting is the dotted line running from there over to the Great Bay Hotel area, is this a possible future bridge?
Moving on, lots more filling of the pond, the present car parks are shown, and another roundabout (7) near where GEBE is.
Then to the East side of the pond and three more roundabouts (8, 9 & 10), two in sucker garden and one near Melford Hazel (?) sports hall and Arch Road.
Taking a closer look below you can see the East side involves a great deal of filling and this is a part of the pond that has a great deal of bird life.
Now, I don't know about you, but this seems to be a massive project to me and I sincerely believe it is not only unnecessary but also a huge waste of money. Money that would be better spent building parking garages and installing ticket meters, thus creating long term jobs and income. Money that would be better off spent on reforming and building a public transport system of buses and mini cabs with meters. Money that would be better off spent on Raoul Illidge and other sports complexes and supporting programs for youth sports. Money that would be better spent on an island sewage system, on an island wide beach patrol who also empty bins. Money better spent on our police and the Soualiga patrol.
Money better spent investing and preserving in the heritage for future generations of St Maarteners, Emilio Wilson Estate and Mary's Fancy spring to mind. Saving some instead of always destroying it.
It's a huge waste of money that indicates either a lack of vision or one consisting of concrete only for the island, and also cowardice, of not having the balls to tackle the main problem of traffic on the islands of lousy public transport. Those votes are important, and besides, this project will be creating quite a few lots of land too. Watch what Theo buys, he bought some land on Front Street a couple years ago and lo and behold, a new pier is being built right there.
As I said at the beginning, it seems there have been no studies of traffic on the island for 20 years, apparently one of the top brass in ROB has said otherwise. I would like the press to ask for them so we can know what the truth is.
If this is any indication for the future then I believe SXM has none, none that any of us who live here and love the island will care for.
Hady Nufyet
Previous Blog - Salt Pond Ring Road Madness
I love the idea of the ring road. What the consequences would be I don't know. but I just simply love it. Even by limiting the cars right now will not solve our traffic situation and how can any govt. force people to limit. Are we hoping for Communism? Anyhow .... Look around you, world wide and even Island wide, there have been many projects that have been criticized but once completed they prove a bit better. So if it has to be the ring road, then I am all for it.
Allow me to introduce to you, the faithful bootlicker of Comm. Theodorus. The slimy sleazeball is grovelling at his feet.
Is our Anonymous (not verified) commentor in great need of an iPod, a fridge or a digital camera?
Yuk, I am truly disgusted.
And you know what I am also disgusted with? Pregnant men!!!!!!!!!
Reminds me of that video by Weird Al: because I'm fat, I'm fat, you know it. Real really fat!!
Yep, I see that you are still the same ole Flip. but thankfully there are those discouraging unintelligent die hard idiots out here. If we were not it would be a sad day for SXM and the entire world. At least 40 years backwards. Change is always a risk and could take a toll on various sections of our lively hood. But thankfully there are those who do take some risks, at times to our further destruction but in most cases for our betterment. You guys got to get real and at least try to become the intellects you proclaim to be. That is why I have moved on. Just to simple minded for me.
A Danish guy who worked at the port project building the new cruise jetty told me something interesting that I hear no-one else talk about. Around the new cruise jetty a lot of sand still needs to removed or else the cruise ships can't use the new pier, we are talking about huge mountains of sand. Nearly a decade ago we saw the huge pile of sand next to Chesterfields that was put there when the 1st cruise pier was constructed. Nowadays there simply is no more space to park so much sand anywhere. He explained that for the project the cheapest way to get rid of the sand is by dumping it at open sea. But then you are distroying "public owned" capital because sand is of high value and hard to come by on a congested island such as SXM. Using such a huge amount of sand for the greater good on the island somewhere is a tremendous challenge. The ring road seems like a convenient means to a reasonably usefull end.
I was thinking the same thing but to me that was speculative. Now that someone who has experience mentioned this, I believe this is a good point, also for the filling of Cole Bay. However, it is unclear if the huge volume of sand is the raison d'etre for the following major developments or just an additive reason. We shall see.
The real reason is about making money. Theo stands to profit greatly from road building and a new harbor. Multi millions. That's the name of the game, anything else is just a spin and cover story.
Flipper
Everybody's gotta make a living...
I think a lot of hub-bub is being made about nothing.
The ring road is a great idea. The salt pond, in all it's glory is still there. It does not produce anything right now of economical value OTHER than it;s actual existance. So i feel that the relatively minor filling in that is intended to be also the last border around it actually is not that bad at all. It's still an immense body of water and the historical value of it will be maintained as much as it is today which is that it is "still there". If you look at the situation in traffic parking is DEFINITELY needed. but this ring road (although it is not shown clearly here) also has additional parking at most of the areas filled in within the pond to make the area for the road. While I think an additional car park somewhere would be great! That will inevitably come. As for parking meters, i think in philipsburg that would only be a drop in the bucket and a really non-working solution. it would just add revenue to the tow-truck companies because simply lots of people will just not pay, especially the people that are just IN and OUT for a "quick buy".
Furthermore, I think this article left out a lot of interesting developments about pond island itself. One comment posted mentioned that this will be the world's largest roundabout with a "dump" in the middle. Actually based on the earlier reports of the conversion of the dump into a waste-converter this is not really the case. Also the pond island has plans for an area to be converted to a park. now I think initially this will not work because people are not going to want to go to the "pond" to visit a park. but i think if it IS actually built, then THAT will also lead to an INCREASE in the bird population because you would have an increase in greenery SURROUNDED by a watering hole that is already known to the local wildlife and this would also provide nesting areas for new life. I think the potential for the park will then increase as the "dump" recedes because of the conversion and the nature increase in the park. Add to that, that the actual drive around the pond will be one that will be filled with great views of our magnificent pond (just look at the impact of the "new road" that was added to the airport terminal which brought drivers a different perspective to the lagoon). I feel that because most people are just annoyed with politics as usual (for mostly the right reasons) they are unwilling to actually give credit where it is due. The harbour, the airport, the current roundabouts, the new fire station, and yes even the new governmentbuilding, are all assets to a modern island that have given us pride or as in the case of the govenment building , will at some time in the future. Remember? the boardwalk was controversial as well. There is a new pier coming downtown (GENIUS btw), and at some point when we look back at the ring road and also the government building in 10 years, no one is going to be upset, but everyone will be proud. Again, just look at the boardwalk and harbour/airport.
Sorry, i'm going here and there and not being coherent in my line of thought, but back to the new pier....the biggest problem with downtown stores was that tourists spent all their money near the burgerking side, and when they got down to say the area of the african gallery, it was window shopping only....have two drop off points, allows two areas of "focal interest and impulse buying" and then as they filter down towards each other you have a crossing over effect that benefits the middle...this should have been done A LONG TIME ago.....
I'm sorry that this post took so long, but I really think that this ring road and the further development of pond island are great ideas and that they will further help the traffic situation and also the economy in the long run.
-Townman
Dear Townman,
I like your post, you added a different spin to the current situation. I was the one talking about the big roundabout with the dump in the middle. I didn't completely missed the park that they proposed to implement at the dump. Right now I haven't seen any clear developments for the dump and proposed park, so I'm pessimistic right now about the dump and park prospects. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ring is completed with a dump in the middle for many years to come.
You mentioned many developments, however they are different to basic road infrastructure.
I'm not anti-development, actually I'm pro development but I look into the long-term future (20 years plus) however hard that is.
The boardwalk project, pier and Frontstreet upgrade was a great idea for the future of SXM and I was always for it. The difference was that this really helps the image and accesibility for especially cruise tourists, and we can testify that by the markup of cruise tourists since 2000. The airport discussion was more of a cost issue, not that we did'nt need one.
While road upgrades might lead to a better scenery, this is not the main purpose of the Ring. The Ring might lead to better flow of traffic, but only in the short term. So should we pay so much money for something that will work for a short period?
Anyway, I think the discussion is not solely about the Ring purpose and future effectiveness or it's attractivity, but people are starting to realize that after all the recent road upgrades and links, we still experience lot's of traffic. How can we sell our tourism product if more roads lead to more cars and to more traffic?
OK This is my nightmare. The salt pans, no the historical salt pans which are now home to numerous birds that can be seen in the early morning or late afternoon will be filled in! For a ring road that will NOT solve the traffic problem, nature again has to pay the price. Take a drive in the area at 6am and see who will pay the price of 'progress'.
This is making me physically ill.
SxmNer
OK This is my nightmare. The salt pans, no the historical salt pans which are now home to numerous birds that can be seen in the early morning or late afternoon will be filled in! For a ring road that will NOT solve the traffic problem, nature again has to pay the price. Take a drive in the area at 6am and see who will pay the price of 'progress'.
This is making me physically ill.
We don't need more roads! The Dutch and French government needs to limit the amount of cars per household on island! There are just too many cars on the island. Double the tax on every 2nd car per household, a 3rd car triple the amount of taxes etc. Some households have 3, 4 somtimes 5 cars! With less cars on the road the public transportation system can be revamped and upgraded to meet the needs of the population. Building more roads is insane!
In my opinion you can do the following:
Start a carpooling campaign, especially with people working in the same office, working the same hours etc. This alone would limit a lot of cars in Philipsburg.
Start charging parking fees for parking, for instance 1 guilder per 30 minutes.
Subsidize a biking or scooter plan that will give you a discount or that the cost can be deducted from your taxes.
The banks, businesses and utility companies should stimulate paying your bills etc. via the internet through E-banking so that you don't need to go on the road to do this.
These measures should reduce the amount of cars on the roads. Face it people, more roads are not the solution! In Europe or the States building more roads or highways would be a solution because you have the space to do so, SXM is just to urbanized to handle more and more asphalt! There are many solutions which have never been tried and are really worth trying before spending millions on more roads!
Am I the only one who's totally into this? I love the plan and will subsequently make no objections to it whatsoever.
It's a great measure to aid the freer flow of traffic and also, it's a fantastic way for the government to stimulate the economy in these though times. The Ring Road is an excellent plan for a modern country and there really was no other answer to the problems surrounding the daily traffic congestion, which was so frustrating and made me quite hysterical at times. How the gov got the loan for this megaproject remains a mystery to me, but they've got my loyal support for this fix!
By the bye, Cheers to former Koop Tjuchem, MNO Vervat and Windward Roads! :-) Ketching...
Now, can I become a civil servant too? I've shown myself to be the appropriate candidate, right? Hire me!!!!
You can reach me here: hughsmall30 [at] gmail [dot] com
Hey Hugh,
That people are fascinated by cars is understandable, however there is a misconception that more roads will help the situation in the long term. Let's just do a small rough comparitive analysis.
In the following link there is a box that include different countries and its car densities. Choosing one of these countries against St. Maarten would be difficult, due to all different variables such as building densities, different traffic managements, how developed a country is, the wealth of an country, it's infrastructure and etc.
For example the states have many cars per capita and a low value for amount of cars per km2. That can be explained due to everything being far in the states (suburbia -- downtown) their postmodern culture and high buying power. The small car/area density could be explained due to the States vast area size (3rd largest country in the world).
If we look at Hong Kong, it is basically an island (1,095 sq. km) with one of the highest population densities in the world, have 283 cars per km2 and 48 cars per 1000 residents. Analysis from the TourMap showed that SXM had 345 cars per km2 and 383 cars per 1000 residents. Now please, you do the math, do we have a lack of roads and insufficiant free flow of traffic or do we simply have too much cars. Maybe I missed something so please point that out, I'm open for a discussion ;).
Dear Irieness,
I didn't exactly expect a reaction like yours to my last post, but no matter, here's my response:
First, the misconception you mentioned was 'more roads will help the situation in the long term'
I agree that it's not the best solution (think how green public transport on electricity would be or what about a bicycle paths seperated from the autotrack like the Dutch have, ensuring the safety of the cyclist...<- can this still be included in the plan? Don't we love the idea? Tourists will be thrilled!) but the Ring Road is the only option if people just refuse to get out of their cars. Now, I am well aware of the almost non-existent pt-structure, but travelling by car is also part of the st. maarten culture...you know, big flashy pimped up SUV's with customized bass installations (ban them, and start with Front str!). No I won't generalize, not everyone has them (thank God) but they do seem to be more numerous on this island.
Second, you start writing that it's unworkable to compare SXM to countries we do have data about, due to a number of variables, and then I gather you are trying to make your point about vehicle density by comparing data concerning the situation in Hong Kong and SXM? Is that it? Because I'm not sure I get it... I really can't see Hong Kong and SXM as similar places. Hong Kong's infrastructure is way better organized than what we have here. I'm not even going to try and put it in words because that's not exactly spiritlifting, is it?
But as much as I love cars (I enjoy racing immensely, on a circuit, that is) I am very much inclined to say that if such a big investment is made for private transport, then a similar amount of financial means ought to be invested in a sophisticated public transport structure. Oh, and by the bye, my racing doesn't make me a supporter of the RR, my first and foremost reason for toasting to this plan, is that I just want to get somewhere without wasting my time, sitting in the daily congestion.
Lastly, if you are looking for nature, SXM is not the place to be. We all know that by now, don't we? Commissioners couldn't care less about the life or death of the brown pelican or other beautiful species living in the Grote Zoutpan. Make no mistake about it, as the former POTUS used to put it.
Hey Hugh,
For me it's not a case of nature, but I'm worried about the amount of money this will cost and loss of heritage, and I prefer that the same money will be invested in more innovative solutions. These are similar worries you expressed in your last comment :).
I know that Hong Kong and St. Maarten aren't similar places, that's why I mentioned the incompleteness of the similarity. But that doesn't mean we can't take a sneak peak of the situation here in St. Maarten and other places, just to get an overall feeling of the situation. Minds work in patterns (atleast for scientists). What I tried to show is, that a small area with a higher population density exhibit a lower car density than in St. Maarten. St. Maarten shows a pattern of also a small area with also a high population density (not so high as Hong Kong) but with HIGHER car density. It is clear that Hong Kong have bigger pressures than us, and still they manage to keep the car density low. This is probably due to their infrastructure and public transport being way better organized, and that's no surprise since that is required of them. So they show initiative to look at more innovative solutions.
I know SXM culture is Americanized with having big and many cars on the road etc. However, I don't believe that this culture should have the freedom to actually perform this. Americans can do it because of cheap gas and many distances they have to cover. SXM simply doesn't have the space for this culture.
All in all, my main argument is that there is too much cars on St. Maarten and that politicians always spew rhetoric about more infrastructure (roads) needed for "building our nation". Just by hearing about the countless of other mega-road projects they have planned (lagoon bridge, road on hilltops) gives you an idea how these politicians think. BIG and ambitious.
I want to see our politicians have balls to go forward with more innovative ideas like Hady and countless of others have proposed. I understand that many of the politicians are very ambitious and support these projects because it shows that St. Maarten is able to do it by themselves and this is what the people wants, but on the other hand these politicians have a lack of understanding about limits and carrying capacity of a small island nation. Additionaly, carrying capacity and other studies were done on St. Maarten (which stated more roads is not a solution) but the expert advice given is hardly taken for granted. So, this shows again that the politicians are not here for the people, but instead are here to silence the people by giving them more roads (which believe this is the solution) and securing their next term in office.
I didn't write all of the above to counter your arguments (beside that the ring will be the only solution) and I'm sure you will agree with me mostly, but I am merely trying to express my viewpoints more clearly, hoping that others see a different perspective to the situation. Thanks for the discussion.
Innovative solutions to the traffic problems? Not the SXM-way of 'solving' the issues! But here's a link, the kids of the new generation seem to know what to do best. Too bad they are never taken seriously.
hahahaha, maybe in 20 years time :P.
What is it with our politicians and roundabouts? How can roundabouts tickle voters fantasy? Voters really need to question themselves if roundabouts made their life so much easier than previously, they need to ask themselves if roundabouts guarantee them of a better quality of life on St. Maarten.
This ring actually looks like one huge roundabout but instead of a slave statue in the center, we have one big pile of garbage in the center. The article from Pride Foundation has handled all my remarks, so I won't have to explain what a waste this is. Go on and read the article at the end of this blog.
Too bad that natives of the island that actually CARE about their island and it's future are in the strong minority, so I wouldn't be surprised this will go through.